The Land Report

Summer 2017

The Magazine of the American Landowner is an essential guide for investors, landowners, and those interested in buying or selling land. The award-winning quarterly is known for its annual survey of America's largest landowners, The Land Report 100.

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S U M M E R 2 0 1 7 | The LandReport 79 LANDREPORT.COM By Eric O'Keefe Ted Turner Like the North Star above his beloved Flying D Ranch, our 2017 Legacy Landowner has been a constant beacon, ceaseless in his support of all God's creatures and His lands. W hen was the first time you became aware of Ted Turner the Landowner? No, no, no – not Ted Turner the Sportsman, who successfully defended America's Cup in 1977 and whose Atlanta Braves won the 1995 World Series. And I'm not referring to your first recollection of Ted Turner the Cable Guy, who developed the pioneering superstation WTBS in the late 1970s and launched CNN in 1980. I'm talking about the lifelong hunter, the devout fly-fisherman, the champion of the American bison, a landowner who stewards some two million acres in the US and Argentina. For me, it was a brief wire report that ran in the Business Day section of The New York Times on June 20, 1996. The gist was that Pennzoil Company was under contract to sell its 588,000-acre Vermejo Park Ranch in Northern New Mexico "to a Georgia company owned by Ted Turner." Vermejo sits at a special corner of the Old West, where the Great Plains meets the Southern Rockies. That country has always called out to me, which is probably why the news caught my eye. Come to find out, that little blip in The Times triggered memories of a summer spent at the Philmont Scout Ranch next door to Vermejo. Thanks to two decades' hindsight, I can credit that one transaction with generating the spark for this magazine. Which was precisely a part of Turner's plan. Our 2017 Legacy Landowner has assembled an amazing collection of properties. But that's only half the story. He is equally adamant about inspiring you and me and anyone else with an interest in land to better this world of ours. Think about it. Then prove him right. OPPOSITE: The Land Report joins a distinguished group of organizations who have honored Turner for his leadership and stewardship, including the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, Prairie Dog Coalition, The Nature Conservancy, LBJ Foundation, and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. In this image, Turner is shown receiving the T. Boone Pickens Lifetime Sportsman Award from Park Cities Quail in 2012.

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